On the official Earth Day (Wednesday, April 22) TTF partnered with over 25 volunteers from AstraZeneca as well as students from the Olney Christian School to plant native shrubs and flowers to beautify the Bingham and Roosevelt corner and gateway to Tacony Creek Park.

We planted Fragrant Sumac and Virginia Sweetspire shrubs, and flowers such as Phlox stolonifera, Aster laevis, Amsonia, and Scutellaria incana. These plants, graciously donated by AstraZeneca, will attract and support wildlife! For example, Fragrant Sumac will provide habitat for birds and butterfly larvae; it will produce berries in the wintertime for small animals, while the Virginia Sweetspire will provide food for nectar-loving insects and shelter for birds.

Our energetic volunteers also helped clean up the park by picking up trash. They did such a thorough job that the kindergarteners and first graders of Olney Christian School were hard pressed to find much trash by the time they walked through the park! Trash found during our clean-up included a car windshield and wiper, a license plate, and car keys! All together, our volunteers picked up about 40 bags of trash. Tacony Creek Park has never looked so clean!

Thanks again to our volunteers from OLC and Astra Zeneca for making Earth Day 2015 such a success for the people and critters of our watershed. Thank you also to Philadelphia Parks & Recreation for your special support!

Julie Slavet is TTF's Executive Director. She has over 20 years of experience in community affairs, program development, and personnel management. Julie earned a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Smith College and an M.S. in Public Affairs from the University of Massachusetts. Julie has served as an Advisor to the Jenkintown Community Alliance and a Director of the Montgomery County Democratic Women’s Leadership Initiative. Contact Julie at 215.844.8100 or julie@ttfwatershed.org.